


Grocery List

by zauberer_sirin



Category: One Piece
Genre: Friendship, Future Fic, Gen, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-11
Updated: 2010-02-11
Packaged: 2017-10-07 04:17:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zauberer_sirin/pseuds/zauberer_sirin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sanji really loves shopping days. Written in December 2009.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Grocery List

The first time Sanji goes shopping after they are all together again he is in such a good mood that he even tries to find sea king meat for Zoro. But this town doesn't seem to be stocking.

And he's looked very hard.  
  
-  


Nami had told them to take it easy, after all this was the first island where they'd stopped since they were all back together (an edge in Nami's voice that Sanji could read easily, maybe because he felt the same, that it was enough for just now to just _be_, together, and nothing else) and she warned not to attract any unwelcome attention, but by the time she said all these things Luffy and Brook had long gone out of the door of the cabin and off the Sunny to "explore".

By then Sanji was already halfway through writing his shopping list.

Nami looked at the empty space where their Captain should have been.

`Well, somebody should stay and look over the ship?´ She said.

Zoro replied by the way of snoring.

`That's settled then,´ Nami declared and went to her room to change for the day in town.  
  
-  


Franky stays in the ship as well.

`Good thing,´ Nami sighs. She smiles at Franky and adds: `Sorry but if we are going to get recognized it will surely be because of Franky or Brook.´

`I think the boat has pretty much sailed about Brook,´ Usopp comments.

Nami shudders: `I don't even want to know what those two are planning.´

`But they are going to be alright?´ Chopper asks, worried.

`I'm sure they are just going to be fine,´ Sanji reassures him. `It seems like a nice, quiet island.´

`Usopp, are you going on a excursion?´ Nami notices him packing a suspiciously large backpack.

`Yes!´ He replies, then goes all solemn. `Not a excursion. It's a secret mission. If I told you I'd have to kill you, Nami.´

`Whatever,´ she waves him off. `Be sure to be back by six. And that goes for all. And don't spend too much money.´  
  
-  


The first leg of the trip to town Nami walks with him. She knows Sanji likes going into fashion shops with her and he knows Nami likes his appreciation whenever she comes out of the dressing room and asks him coyly, `_Does this one look good on me?_´

Everything looks good on her.

She seems to be in high spirits as well, and grateful to be back with the crew (she was the last one to be found by Luffy), so grateful that she becomes uncharacteristically touchy for a moment and as they walk up the little hill that goes all the way up to the town, she locks her arm with Sanji's happily.

`Nami...´

She just laughs at his blushing.  
  
-  


He leaves Nami at the clothes shop ("yes, the blue dress is also my favourite so far, Miss Nami") and starts his own shopping.

He won't overdo it. They've landed on an area full of small islands like this one and with good trade so he doesn't need to pack food for a long time. Just something of the essential, and something that would make everybody happy.

Sanji wants to make everybody happy with his cooking, now they are back together.  


-  


He thinks he spots Usopp teaching local children to use a slingshot and that's obviously contravening Nami's orders of not mixing with the villagers in case someone recognizes them. He is beginning to think he is the only one who listens to their navigator's orders, and then he remembers that he doesn't follow them much either.  
  
-  


He has to go to two different shops to find sea-salt, the thick-grains kind, which is ironic cause hey, he lives surrounded by sea-salt. But actually it's the one that he prefers to use with red meat.  


-  


At tea time Sanji tries to pick up, no, invite a couple of local girls to something.

They don't speak French.

Sanji blows his opening gambit, then. And thinks it's not worth the trouble. Maybe this is what people call "growing up" he thinks and panics a bit, so he buys the girl vanilla ice cream and then he buys them strawberry ice cream and flirts relentlessly to make up for it. He feels a bit hollow all of the sudden.  
  
-  


He finds Robin and Chopper, unexpectedly, in the bookstore.

He looks at them from outside the window for a moment; he watches as Chopper is explaining something to Robin and making her smile with his enthusiasm. Sanji feels like maybe he shouldn't intrude but then Chopper notices him standing outside the shop and he waves at him and Robin grins and of course Sanji goes and joins them.

He has to put off his cigarette first.

Apparently this is all Robin and Chopper have been doing today, spending _hours_ among dusty books.

`Look, Mister Cook,´ Robin hands him a volume she has been carrying. `I was going to get this one for you.´

Sanji looks down at the title: "_A million and one recipes from All Blue_?".

`The title sounds a bit hyperbolic for a 200-pages book, but I thought you might like it,´ she explains with that easy and cool manner of hers.

Sanji stares at the book for an eternity, sure that his mouth is wide open.

`R-Robin...´ He stutters. `You thought about me this much?´

She doesn't answer. She stares at him and smiles quizzically, as she always does. It always makes Sanji nervous, but he likes it.

From the corner of his eye Sanji sees Chopper approaching the till.

`Oi, Chopper, what's that?´

Chopper is indeed hidden behind a pile of books that must weight more than three Choppers. Sanji admires his strength.

`You think we are rich?´ Sanji questions. `How are you going to pay for all that?´

`But!´ Chopper protests from behind the books. `I can't decide!´

Robin laughs.  
  
-  


In the end Sanji and Robin lend Chopper what he needs for the 17 volumes he is buying and they all help carry them back to the ship.  


-  


Outside the bookshop they find Luffy being dragged by his left ear by Nami, with Brook following obediently, cowering at Nami's violence and the risen tone of her voice.

`What is going on here?´

Nami ignores Sanji's question and keeps on dragging Luffy through the village high street; they catch bits of her ranting as she passes them by.

`.. to be discreet, this is a peaceful, decent village. But nooooooooo. You had to try and eat that poor man's pet...´

`I didn't try to eat, I tried to kidnap it so that Sanji could cook it, I wasn't going to – OUCH – eat it raw...´

`...not three hours ago, I warned you. Do not make a fuss, I said. But do you ever listen to-?´

`Truth be told, Miss Nami,´ Brook tries in a tiny voice. `I think that wasn't a pet, I think it was a mean of transport, I doubt pets have wheels instead of-´

`STAY OUT OF THIS!´

That's when Luffy becomes aware of the presence of an audience.

`Sanji! Chopper! Robin! Hey!´

He disentangles himself from Nami's grip with an easiness that suggest he could have done so at any given time of her abuse, if he had wanted. Nami also seems to notice this because she freezes a bit, wrong-footed and frowning.

`Hey, Luffy...´ she calls softly, as if demanding an explanation, but Luffy is already walking back to his shipmates.

`What do you have here?´ He examines Sanji's bags. `Is it food?´

`Stay away from my shopping, you monster!´ Sanji shouts.

Luffy laughs and throws his arm around Sanji's shoulders and laughs even harder. Sanji knows the food he's bought probably won't make it back to the ship intact. There is a chance that the book Robin bought him, on top of the packages of meat and vegetables, might throw Luffy off the scent and keep them safe, but Sanji is not counting on that.. He doesn't really care.

There are things he knows Luffy will never say. Things like "I've missed you, guys".

But he holds them closer these days, like now, and he laughs harder these days, like now.  


-  


Zoro peeks at his bags.

`What are you doing, you beast?´ Sanji takes the bags from him promptly.

`Have you bought some sea king meat?´ He asks in a little boy's tone, meaning that he isn't completely awake from his three-hour-nap just yet.

Sanji looks away.

`As if I would go searching for food that _you like_. What did you think?´ He tells him a bit too vehemently.

Down on the deck Nami is admonishing Chopper about spending half the crew's wages on books and her shouting (and Chopper's cries for mercy) can be heard throughout the whole ship. Luffy is still laughing (Sanji wonders if he ever stopped) but that's not helping Chopper's situation at all.

Sanji really likes shopping days.


End file.
